Railroad-tie



No. 626,08l. Patented May 30, I899.

- S. MOELFATRICK.

RAILROAD TIE.

(Application filed Dec. 6, 1898.)

(No Model.)

I L H a INVENTOR I W58 BYG'QD 1 29 A TTORNE YS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL MOELFATRIOK, OF PRINCETON, KENTUCKY.

RAILROAD-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 626,081, dated May 30,1899. 1 Application flied December 6, 1898. Serial No. 698,4;37. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL MCELFATRICK, of Princeton, in the county ofCaldwell and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and ImprovedRailroad-Tie, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

The invention relates to railroad-ties, such as shown and described inthe Letters Patent of the United States No. 497,67 8, granted to me onMay 16, 1893.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved metallicrailroad-tie which is simple and durable in construction and arranged tosecurely fasten the rails in place without the use of spikes or likefastening devices.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations ofthe same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out inthe claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the improvement as applied and with the railspartly in 'section. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the same on the line 22 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the improvement with parts inposition for receiving the rails. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of thetie-sections detached, and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form ofthe improvement.

The improved metallic railroad-tie is provided with two parts Aand B,alike in construction and made T-shaped in cross-section and havinghorizontal members A" B and vertical members A B respectively. Thevertical members A B are fitted upon one another, each with the lowerportion extending below the horizontal members A B and the upperportions extending above the same, as is plainly indicated in'Fig. 4:.The upper portions of the vertical members A and B are formed withrecesses A A and B B respectively, of which the recesses A B are adaptedto register with each other to receive the rail 0, and the recesses A Bare adapted to register with each other to receive the other rail 0. Theupper portion of the vertical member A is further provided with anoverhanging lug A adapted to engage the 'zontal members A B.

outer flange of the rail 0, and a similar lug A at the recess A isadapted to engage the inner flange of the other rail 0. The upperportion of the vertical member B is formed at the recess B with anoverhanging lug B adapted to engage the inner flange of the rail 0, anda lug 13 at the recess B is adapted to engage the outer flange of therail 0. The upper portions of the vertical members A B are furtherformed at or near their middle with elongated slotsA B forreceivingabolt D, which when loosened permits of sliding the parts A Bupon one another from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shownin Figs. 1 and 2. The outer ends of the upper portions of the members AB are provided with registering apertures A B for 're ceiving bolts Efor securely and finally fastening the parts A and B together after theyhave received the rails and have been shifted from the position shown inFig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 2 to bring the apertures inregister with each other.

' In using the railroad-tie the parts A and B, with the bolts E removedand with the nut of the bolt D loosened, are shifted upon one another tobring the recesses A B and A B in register with each other, as isplainly indicated in Fig. 3, to permit of conveniently placing the railsO O in position, the bases of said rails resting on the top of the hori-The members A B are now shifted upon one another to cause theoverhanging lugs A A and B B to pass over the flanges of the rails C C,as previously explained, so as to securely clamp the rails in place 011the tie and bring the apertures A B in register with each other topermit of inserting the bolts E to securely fasten the members'A Btogether. The nut on the bolt D is likewise screwed up after the railsare fastened in place to prevent the middle portions of said membersfrom spreading apart.

It will be seen by reference to Figs. 1 and 2 that the two lugs A and Bof the members A and B engage the flanges of the rail 0 at oppositesides to securely lock the rail in position, and in a similar manner thelugs A and B engage the inner and outer flanges of the rail 0' tosecurely fasten the latter i place on the tie.

If desired, the inner faces of the vertical members A B of the tie maybe provided with corrugations A B as illustrated in Fig. 5, thecorrugations fitting upon each other, but leaving slight openings, asshown, so that when the nuts of the bolts D and E are screwed up the twosections shift upon one another and cause the lugs A A and B B toclosely clamp or snugly fit upon the flanges of the rails and securelyfasten the same in place on the tie.

It will be seen that by the construction described the ties and railscan be readily placed in position and the rails securely fastened inplace, and in case a rail is broken the two sections can be readily slidapart after removing the bolts E and loosening the bolt D to permit ofwithdrawing the broken rail and allowing the insertion of a new rail.The two sections are then again moved back to their former position andfastened together by the bolts D and E, as previously explained.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent 1. A railroad-tie, comprising two similarsections having vertical members arranged to abut and formed withrecesses to receive the rails and overhanging lugs for engagement withthe rail-flanges, the said vertical members being further provided withelongated slots between the rail-receiving recesses, the said slotsbeing adapted to receive a bolt whereby one section may be slidably heldupon the other section when the tie is being adjusted to the rails, asand for the purpose set forth.

2. A railroad-tie, comprising the two sections formed with verticalmembers arranged to abut and provided with means for receiving andretaining the rails, the said vertical members being further providedwith apertures adapted to he brought into register for the reception oflocking-bolts and corrn gated adjacent faces which havetheircorrugations slightly out of alinement, whereby the tightening of thelocking-bolts will move one section on the other to tightly bind therails as and for the purposeset forth.

SAML. MCELFATRICK.

\Vi tn esses:

D. D. LUROT, R. M. PooL.

